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Tim Corbin builds Vanderbilt into NCAA elite baseball program

OMAHA, Neb. — White commercial tents and vendor trailers line sidewalks and parking lots in this Midwestern city each June.

Mesmerized baseball fans, young and old alike, meander through this makeshift outdoor mall with crumpled dollars clutched in their fists, ready to spend as if it is Christmas Eve and items remain unchecked on the wish list.

This year there is a certain school’s name on the T-shirts, visors, bracelets and giant foam fingers — one they have not seen since the College World Series began seven decades ago.

“Vanderbilt,” said James Sleight, a Lincoln-based store manager working one of the four stations for Lids, a hat and apparel company.

“I would say the Vanderbilt items are definitely selling the best. We have to keep shifting them from place to place. It’s been a little surprising.”

The Commodores have made it. They are here at college baseball’s mecca, soaking in the experience and lapping up the recognition that comes with this kind of validation.

In nine seasons as coach, Tim Corbin has transformed Vanderbilt into “one of the elite programs” in the nation, according to Steve Pivovar, a writer for the Omaha World-Herald , who has covered every game of the College World Series since 1982 and attended the event for more than 50 years.

Yes, little ol’ Vanderbilt, the smallest and only private university among the Southeastern Conference giants and often the punch line of too many athletics-related jokes.

But not when it comes to this sport. Not anymore. Not since Corbin arrived in 2003 with a plan to win — and win with class.

“This was the one chip we were missing,” Corbin said. “… And it’s not easy to come here and play like we have. To get here and stay for a while, it gives you more credibility. This will be our fourth time playing on national TV here, and that’s great advertising for the university itself.”

Corbin’s focus, persistence, and blend of local and national recruiting helped make Vanderbilt a contender within two seasons as the team reached its first Super Regional, the final step before the College World Series, in 2004.

Vanderbilt soon made the transition into a perennial favorite, qualifying for the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament every year since 2006, ascending to the nation’s No. 1 ranking in 2007 and returning to a Super Regional in 2010.

And now, this season, a breakthrough.

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